NATO Admits Troops Will Likely Remain in Afghanistan After 2014

As expected, at today’s summit in Lisbon, Afghanistan and NATO agreed to the goal of shifting security responsibility to the Afghan government by the end of 2014, but they acknowledged that allied troops would remain in the country long after that year. President Obama said: “My goal is to make sure that, by 2014, we have transitioned, Afghans are in the lead, and it is a goal to make sure that we are not still engaged in combat operations of the sort that we’re involved with now. Certainly, our footprint will have been significantly reduced. But beyond that, you know, it’s hard to anticipate exactly what is going to be necessary.” [NYT]